New Delhi, Sept. 11 -- OpenAI has temporarily paused new subscriptions to its $200-a-month ChatGPT Pro plan, citing what it describes as "unprecedented" demand for its latest AI model, Astra.

Thibault Sottiaux of OpenAI's product leader announced the move in a post on X, saying the company was taking the step to maintain the experience and continued access to Astra for existing users.

"To make sure our current users have an incredible experience and continued access to Astra, we are going to pause subscriptions to our $200 Pro plan," Sottiaux said.

According to the post, Pro subscriptions place the greatest strain on OpenAI's systems. The company said pausing new sign-ups was intended to be the smallest measure that would allow it to m...